National Volunteer Week (April 21-27) is fast approaching! How will you celebrate the dedicated volunteers who give their time and energy to help your organization achieve its goals?

If you’re not sure, no worries! We’re here to help with our top three volunteer appreciation ideas!

At Baudville, we talk a lot about teamwork, and we help businesses promote it through our more than 20 teamwork-related themes. Being the person who writes many of these sentiments, I have to admit that, at times, I view it so much as a philosophy that I forget what it means to actually experience it in the physical form. Cooperation, unity, collaboration, and synergy are all words we toss around; but what do they really mean?

Well, last Friday I had the privilege of witnessing and participating in the very definition of these words. The project was organized and funded by a non-profit called KaBoom, and benefitted D.A. Blodgett’s St. John’s Home—a local agency that provides a wealth of support services and resources to children and families in need in our community.

It was amazing.

I recently told you about an inspiring volunteer experience our creative team had at Kids’ Food Basket here in Grand Rapids. Buzz went around the office after we returned, and more teams were asking me how they could get involved, too.

A few weeks passed, and our day out in the wild was about to become a distant memory when we, a recognition company, ended up receiving a little recognition ourselves. Yes, to our surprise, a poster showed up at our front door decorated with thank you letters and photos from the kids who benefited. We proudly displayed our poster in a common area, and, as a result, our little mission (and KFB, more importantly) got even more exposure. Hooray!

Since Volunteer Appreciation Week is in one month, I know there are lots of volunteer coordinators and leaders who are working on their volunteer appreciation plans. To help you out, I've lsited five great free volunteer appreciation resources you can use this spring: 

When is National Volunteer Week 2012 and how will you celebrate volunteers this year?